1. Field of Invention
The present invention is generally related to an apparatus having cutter elements disposed on a shaft for destroying a plurality of articles such as paper and discs. In particular, the apparatus comprises an oiling mechanism associated with the shaft for lubricating the cutter elements located thereon.
2. Background
Shredders are well known devices for destroying substrate articles, such as documents, CDs, floppy disks, etc. Typically, users purchase shredders to destroy sensitive articles, such as credit card statements with account information, documents containing company trade secrets, etc.
Typically, a shredder has a shredder mechanism contained within a housing, and the housing has a feed opening enabling substrates to be fed into the shredder mechanism. As with other mechanical devices, wear may be reduced and performance may be maintained by proper lubrication of moving parts. In particular, wear on cutting blades of the shredder mechanism and load on the shredder motor can be reduced by oiling the cutting blades.
In one approach, shredders have relied on lubrication systems having a plurality of nozzles that communicate with a reservoir of oil for spraying the oil directly onto the cutting blades. The plurality of spray nozzles can also optionally spray the oil onto an intermediate surface that enables the oil to flow onto the cutting blades. Examples of such approach are described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,798,435.
In other approaches, the lubrication system for lubricating shredders may include a manifold or openings that enable oil to drip onto the cutting blades. However, these approaches do not direct the oil to the cutting blades at a predictable rate or pattern. Accordingly, these approaches result in inefficiency and waste because some of the oil that drips from the manifold do not eventually drop onto areas of the cutting blades that require lubrication. Examples of such approaches are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,494,229 and 5,186,398.